n1gzd_plymouth

I looked at their site and saw lots of nice things but I could not tell from your description which one it was. I suspect that they would know which one if I contacted them. Thanks for the tip. Rebecca

I am going to use a carter ball ball that has a flange that sticks out near the top of the carburetor. My stock carburetor did not have this flange so many simple air cleaners that just clamp at the top will fit. It seems that with this type of carb you need a special clamp that fits this shape. Can someone tell me what aircleaners to look for or even better, tell me a hotrod type aircleaner that will fit this. I tried clamping something to it but there is not enough metal sticking up above the flange. Thanks, Rebecca

This is exactly what I just did with my old 36 Plymouth radiator. I was quoted two prices, one for modern core and one for honeycomb. Honeycomb was $50 more. I decide to go with modern core. I was charged $550. The price that you quoted seems to high. Rebecca

That is exactly what the Dodge truck manual (for 230 engine) that I am using said to do. It seemed strange but I decided to believe it since the numbers are fairly large. I of course plan on adjusting them again of adjusting thrm again hot after I get the engine running. I just wanted to get them in the ball park because they seemed so far off. By the way, here are a few pics of the view from below. You can see the 60's manifold set that I am using. It had a lot of vacuum ports in it (4). I am going to use one of them for a vacuum gauge. You can also see that I have a fixed heat riser. I could change that some day but for now I am happy just setting it in "summer mode". I won't drive this car in the winter. I included a pic of my new hoses. The last picture is a picture of my newly painted covers. When I got the car it has studs. However, with these later manifolds, the covers would not fit on with the fuel pump there as well. To get them off (I installed them before installing the manifolds so I did not know about the problem) I had to loosen the fuel pump bolts. Using these stud bolts with little flat handles on them solved my problem (thanks moose). I was going to get these covers chromed but it was too expensive. However, now I am glad that I just painted them. You can hardly see them anyway. Rebecca

Ok. On another web site I found a specification that you reference the postion of the rotor by clock positions referenced as you would if you were standing in front of the car. By this reference my cylinder #1 valves were on the flat part of the cam when the the rotor was pointing to 7 o'clock. I did not check the timing mark but it seemed right. I will look for the timing mark today. I really need to find the manual that goes with my engine because every book that I have (motors, 36 plymouth manual, B-3 Truck manual, online sources) says something different for valve clearance numbers and timing. This is one of the drawbacks of having the wrong engine for the car (hard to find the right manual). My engine is a 230 CI engine that says T3IO at the beginning of the part number. I was told that this was an early 50's dodge truck (1 ton I think). I have a 60's manifold set and a later B+B carb that matches that. I hope that I have the right fuel pump (earler engine appears to have lower fuel pressure than 230 CI). Rebecca

Ok. I understand what the tip is saying now. There is a similar procedure described in the 1050-1959 Motors manual except that the 2 stages lists are different. The Motors manual seems to list hot intake and exhaust for 230 CI as .010 for both intake and exhaust. (and .008 and .010 for the smaller engines). The B-3 truck manual (I don't think tha this is the truck series that had my engine but they have 230 CI in that book so I was looking at it) lists .010 for intake hot and .014 for exhaust hot. They also have a number called "clearance to check timing (cold)" for which .014 was listed. They did not list intake and exhaust. This is where I got the idea to adjusted all of my valves to .014. I think that this is what I did but I did not use the "stages" method from the tech tips. I turned the engine to each firing position on the rotor and adjusted both each time. I can see why this is not the best way to do it especially since I did it by turning the flywheel from under the car. On my 36 plymouth you can't really turn the engine unless you have a hand crank handle which I have not found yet. Only regular feeler gauge this time around (not "go-no-go"). I will get one and use it for the hot adjustment later. I am just using my regular one and adjusting it so that it drags a little (with the oil wiped off as much as possible). What is the reference for 12'0clock on the distributor? I must be using he wrong reference. If I stand on the left side of the car and face the engine the distributor is in front of me and I am facing 12:00 (the part of the distributor that is closest to the engine is 12:00). Is this wrong? If it is then it explains why my distributor position is different than what is described. If I turn the engine so that the rotor contact points to the #1 cylinder wire then indeed I can get the feeler gauge between the gap in both intake and exhaust #1 valve gaps. I then turned the engine so that it pointed to the next one in the firing order on the distributor (#5 in clockwise order around the distributor). Then I adjusted the valve gap for the intake and exhaust of #5. I continued through the firing order setting both for each cylinder. I have new cover gaskets. the tip says use sealer. I did not see a mention of that in motors. What type of sealer do I use? A tiny film of Indian Shellac? I assume I don't bother with this until I am done with these itterations. So this tech tip (and my motors manual) describes that you can actually do it with one initial engine turn plus one additional turn if you know which ones are off the cam at the same time. The procedure in the motors manual has a very different bank A and B. I guess they recommend starting in a different position. I am turning the engine by sitting under the car and yanking the ring gear with my hands. I am turning it counter clockwise as seen by the driver (and this makes the rotor turn clockwise as you look down on it). I think this is correct because the rotor appears to turn in firing order. Thanks for bearing with me. Rebecca

thanks. What manual is that? I need to get one that more closely matches my engine. I bought a Dodge truck manual but I can't find any mention of cold tappet clearances. I will fix these initial clearances tomorrow. However, I am a little confused about one thing. I found this tech tip: http://www40.addr.com/~merc583/mopar/framesets/techtipframeset.html I have some questions: I have not yet found the timing mark but I found top dead center by turning the engine (counterclock wise as pictured looking at the engine from the front of the car) until the rotor pointed at the the distributor cable that goes to spark plug #1. At this point cylinder #1 appears to have both valves closed (because the springs look even and I can fit the feeler gauge between both of them. I have not yet verified that this is in in the right position by seeing where it is compared to the timing mark. Is it on the ring gear or on the balancer (front of the engine?). anyway, my question is this, the tech tip mentioned above said that the rotor should appear to be at 7:00. It kind of looks like 11:00 to me. If I turn it to the next position on the rotor indeed it appears that cylinder #1 valves close. Another question. In the tech tip, there is a mention of Stage A and Stage B. I am a little confused about that. Also why are there 5 numbers instead of 6? Rebecca

I should mention that so far, cold, I set intake and exhaust both to .014. I was thinking that this seems too much for the intake. Rebecca

My 1936 Plymouth has a 230 CI engine from a T310 Dodge truck from early 50's. I have not found proper documation yet for the valve clearances (cold anyway). I want to get the valve clearances in the ball park before I run the engine. What intake and exhaust valve tappet clearances should I use? I am hoping to do this tomorrow morning. Today I set them but I think that I used the incorrect numbers. Thanks. Rebecca

Thanks. I do have a functioning distributor but it is an older one (probably original from 36). I got sucked in by the lure of an NOS one. I could just buy a new vacuum advance for my old one and replace all of the tuneup parts and possibly the breakerplate and it might be good enough. I should probably do that before bothering you. I guess I should send back the new one and hope that they will give me my money back. I will let you know if I can't spiff up my old one. Rebecca

The problem is that the NOS distributor that I bought does not appear to have a vacuum advance (nowhere to connect it). In other words, you can't have one with this distributor. I included the distributor number with my original post. I think that buying this one was a mistake (but it is a nice one). Rebecca

My 36 Plymouth (with early 50's Dodge truck 230CI engine) came with a pretty beat uplooking distributor that has a vacuum advance. I bought a NOS distributor from vintagepowerwagons.com. It does not seem to have a place to connect a vacuum advance (but there is a little hole on the bottom that I don't understand). I called Vaintagepowerwagons.com and they said that it does not have a vaccum advance, it has a mechanical one and that I don't need a vacuum advance. I am assuming that he means that it has a centrifugal advance. My 58 Desoto has both. Is it ok if I don't have a vacuum advance? These are the numbers that are on the distributor: Chrysler 2084844 IAY4102A1S 342 Any advice appreciated. thanks, Rebecca

Yes, my ultimate plan is to do get it to breath better but for now I just want to get it running. I must need to find a carb. Jim, what carburetor do you have on your 230? I did some checking around today. I thought it would be easy to find a cheap carb. I did bid on a couple things on ebay but there was not a lot of info so I am not sure what I bid on. Rebecca

ha ha. yes, propane. I almost fell off my chair laughing. The ports seem to line up exactly. It is definately not fr a long block.

the new intake is shorter (missing the taller flange), has a larger bore, and larger spacing. What carb should I look for? There are a lot of ports on this new intake. What were they for? Was this from a natural gas fork lift or something else? Would you agree that this manifold is better than what I had before because I should have a larger carb with my non stock larger engine? Rebecca

the new manifold has wider spacing not narrower spacing. What I mean is my old manifold which is a much older one, has narrower spacing so my old carb won't bolt on. however, since my engine is a newer engine, perhaps it is just as well that I use the newer manifold and get a bigger carb but I don't know which one. also, I am curious to know more about this new manifold. was it from a natural gas driven fork lift? How does that hook up? Rebecca

I had an idea, was this intake from a propane carb fork lift? Is there any dissadvantage to this? I was thinking that I would mount a vacuum gauge on one of the extra ports. Rebecca

My 36 Plymouth has a T310 230 CI Dodge engine (from 52 dodge truck). The manifolds and carb that my engine had when I got the car appeared to be the original manifolds from the 1936 Plymouth 201 CI engine. The original carburetor is a 1bbl Carter B+B. My machine shop told me that there was too much corrosion between the intake and heat riser box and that it would be more cost effective to get a reconditioned one. I got a set from vintagepowerwagon.com that was supposedly compatible with my engine. It does appear that it will bolt on to my engine and mate with my exhaust flange (correct manifold that will fix stock exhaust flange position). In the pictures below, the one with the new carb studs is the newer one that I just bought. However, ther eare some things that are different about this manifold that appear to dictate that if I keep it I will have to change my carburetor. I have pics below. The two studs for the carb were closer together on my old intake (appears to be 2 11/16 inch spacing on the old one and 2 15/16 on the newer one). Also the diameter of the intake is a little wider on the newer one (old one looks like about 2 1/2 inch and the new one looks like 2 5/8 inch). Also, on the old one there is a flange that sticks up on the intake manifold that the newer intake does not have. The mount points that were provided are similar but they are at a different height (but it seems to be same after you account for the lack of hte extra flange height on the old intake. The heat riser box flapper design is different on the newer one. The newer intake appears to have a lot of extra vacuum ports. new intake date stamp appears to say 6/5/62 - casting num: 1066051. I don't know what it was from but it is clearly newer. old intake has this number on it: 651259-16 Does anyone knmow what carburtetor is recommended for this other intake manifold? Here are some various angle pics:

I have Grundy. Mostly because we have a local very helpful agent who happens to sell Grundy. However, that they insured me that I can drive my car anywhere, as far as I want, any time that I want, as often as I want, as long as I am not using it for "transportation". In otherwords, it cannot replace the reason why I own my regular car. In other words, I can drive the old cars as much as I want as long as the reason for driving it is recreational. Once in a while I drive an old car to work but ONLY if there is a reason why I had to because I was on the way to cruise night which was nearby after work (this is probably stretching it but I did disclose this to my agent). Rebecca

Well, keeping my coil is certainly the easy route. I just need to find one of those screw in ignition coil connectors to swap onto my new ignition cables that have the newer style connector. I still need to understand how this is configured so that I at least know what the options are if the coil fails. Do coils normally work not not work? Is it possible to have a weak spark due to a coil that is going bad or is it OK or NOT OK? Rebecca

good. Can you confirm that if I disconnect the anti theft cable from the coil it will have no effect on the ignition switch (it only effected the coil which I am replacing with one that does not have that feature)? Rebecca

I have a 6 volt positive ground alternator. I am double checking everyting as go go through this car because I completely trust the work of the previous owner (who did not own the car very long and hardly drove it). I have driven the car only once myself. I have also verified that my battery is wired up for a positive ground system. Rebecca

Regardin boots, I tugged on one of them tonight and decided not to pull harder until I am sure that the loom thing does not come apart. Perhaps if I put some DC4 compound on it I can slip it off. It does look like the cables with the connector on it will fit through the loom without the boot so I would try that first before cutting the cables off. Regarding the coil. so, the anti theft cable on the back is not the negative connection (that is a separate wire that is connection in addition to the anti theft). If this is true and I use a modern coil I can disconnect the anti theft cable and just leave it dangling back there (wire tied out of the way or removed - I think that it can disconnect from the switch) and then as you suggest, find away to snake the negative wire (carefully so it can't pinch against ground) to the back of the coil. I think that I woudl rather be set up to use a readily available coil incase I get stuck somewhere. I could just make sure it is a black one so it looks more or less correct. Rebecca

I also posted this on a more appropriate forum but this group is such a good resource that I decided to post it here too. I am replacing all of the ignition parts on my 36 coupe. It appears that my ignition coil could be orignial so I want to replace it so that I can eliminate a possible weak coil from some problems that I was having earlier (just want to start out with new ignition parts). I have what appears to be the original type coil that is mounted stuck into the firewall (and it might be the orignal one - it looks old). Bear with me, this is the first time I have encountered this type of firewall mounted ignition coil. http://www.pangalacticconsortium.com/cars/PlymouthGallery/imgpages/image019.html The coil ignition cable has a threaded connector on it (screws on, not plug). One coil power site is on the side of the coil in the engine area (forget if it is hot or ground). Inside the car under the panel there is what looks like conduit coming from the back of the coil and it runs to the ignition switch. I can only assume that this is the other side of the power to the coil that is switched through the ignition switch. Why did they do this, was it a security measure (hard to hot wire the car)? Anyway,here are some questions: I am guessing that there is a way to separate the coil from the firewall bracket and the metal conduit on the back. It was not obvious when I looked at it how it could disconnect and I did not want to break it. I pointed a flashlight on the back of the coil and all I saw was the conduit but in a catalog pic (andy bernbaum) I saw what looked like a connection for the other wire. Is there actually supposed to be two things on the back, ignition lock conduit and power wire? The firewall mounted coil in both catalogs that I looked at is very expensive ($129.50 vs $39.50). I wonder if it would be possible to mount the cheaper kind in the hole where the original type goes and somehow snake the other power wire behind and leave the ignition lock conduit thing disconnected. If the coil is the same diameter it might fit in the coil bracket and look kind of stock. Has anyone done that? I have noticed that the later cars have the coil mounted on the loom thing that routes the igntion cables. I really would rather keep mine in the stock location. Here is another question: When I removed my old ignition cables I could not find a way to separate the two sides of the ignition cable loom thing so I removed the contacts and boot from the ends of the cables. I have some new cables but I don't want to take them apart. Is it actually possible to separate the two halfs of the loom thing or do you really need to build the cables on the car? Here is how mine looks: http://www.pangalacticconsortium.com/cars/PlymouthGallery/imgpages/image041.html Thanks, Rebecca

I like that idea. I have decided to definately replace my original manifolds with something interesting but for now I guess I should get it running nicely with the stuck stuff. I think that I will swap them out next winter. Rebecca